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So I used to run a very elaborate stealth cabinet. Actually it was a desk, with mother room and flower room side by side. Damn thing was wood, and this was back when you had to buy squirrel cage centrifugal fans from janitorial supply stores, because nobody was doing grow rooms with them (in my town at last). I tried hydro and soil both in it, and ended up preferring soil. Soil was less hassle, and easier to maintain without sacrificing yield. This was with 400W HPS and a DIY hood; they didn't have hoods back then with ducted cooling like they do now. Took me a solid week to build the thing, and it was righteous and yet pretty ghetto. I harvested about ten times with it before I moved and had to destroy it.

I give this background because you whippersnappers now have no idea how easy it is to setup a quality grow. I blew my tax refund at the local grow store (support local business), and got the setup you see in the pics. First off the grow tent is amazing. Anybody on the fence about getting one, Jesus am I a believe. Great fabric quality, seals right up, and allows for great negative air pressure with a good fan going. Took about an hour to set up, and that was taking my sweet ass time to savor it. It's the DR 120, 48"x48"x81". I got a dual lumatek ballast rocking a GE 400 MH bulb, and a Hortilux 600. Reflector is Predator 6. Fan is a SunLeaves 6" at 420cfm, which is more than adequate air turnover. Filter is a 6" Pro-Filter.

I'm happy with the plumbing. Originally had the filter on the ground, then had the epiphany to hang 'em high. Ratchets for the hood are very handy; I can take 6 to 10 more inches vertically if I need it. Like I said, going soil, so the pots are waiting for the seeds to arrive. Using two 6" intakes which I'm guessing will stress the fan less.

A far as nutes, starting off with FFOF soil, then I'm going to rock the Fox Farms formula, it's big three, and the supplements (Beastie Bloomz, etc.). I haven't tried FF before, so I want to get a baseline of what they can do. Will probably supplement with some molasses, either black strap, or something stinky and organic from the local hippie, I mean, farmer's market.

Beans. Instead of growing some bag seeds my buddy claimed were "Jack Herrer", I'm going to go all out with some feminized quality genetics. For this round, we shall try lemon amnesia, DP blueberry, blue cheese, and white widow. Next time i may try Strawberry Cough. I've always wanted to try these strains.

Training. I'm going to attempt to grow 4 plants at once especially with the filter up high. I worry about this footprint, so training is a must. I had huge luck with SCROG in my wooden stealth cabinet, so I'm approaching the tent as a "Super SCROG". Six inch trellis will be locked to the corner poles, and I will bend these girls over mercilessly. I want to take advantage of all that height at my disposal, training them bushy, but going vertical for some real donkey dick colas. My buddy used to grow those and I'd be so pissed with my spindly little buds in comparison. Planning on vegging 4 - 6 weeks after popping the seeds for two weeks, then bloom as usual.

No mother room? Nope. It's a hassle, and I want to be forced to sample a variety of genetics. I'm always going to be on the prowl for verified quality genetics. Also, fewer plants is less risky in the horrifying scenario of a bust. This is a personal grow though, pretty stealth, and I maintain pretty tight security. Otherwise better call Saul.

Temps. So this is in the lower level of my domicile, where I maintain nice temps of about 63 F with lights on. Bear in mind this is in winter. In summer, with the HPS, it should hit around 69-72 with lights, about 62 with lights off. This makes me think I could have gone with 1000, which I might do, but we shall see.

That's about it for now. More updates when something is actually growin.

Pics:

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nice line up So your gonna do one plant of each strain? are they fem seeds?

Interesting. In my next setup, preferably my state is legal (at least medical), and I can go insane with a room or other permanent structure. The tent I can fold up in about an hour. Handy if someone "nosy" is coming. And yes, I like a tidy grow. Tidy keeps pests and problems away.

Yes, one plant of each, all feminized. Forgot, I grew KC brains before too. It was decent stuff. What are the other hot strains these days?

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You should keep your ballast outside of the tent, higher temps will reduce its lifespan. Also, don't waste $$ on a 1000w, a 4x4 tent is not large enough to effectively control the heat build up from a 1k light. Unless you have a liquid cooled light.

Quote:WildBud420 said:You should keep your ballast outside of the tent, higher temps will reduce its lifespan. Also, don't waste $$ on a 1000w, a 4x4 tent is not large enough to effectively control the heat build up from a 1k light. Unless you have a liquid cooled light.

Nice setup you got going , i'm sure you'll get great results.

You make a good point. Problem is its only 63F in the tent right now. I was hoping ballast in might take me up to 70. Lol, it doesn't; cool to the touch.

What you say about 1000W makes sense. Come the dark heart of July I'm going to see what my temps are. If theyre still upper 60s, max no more than 72, I think I might upgrade.

Thanks for feedback; not arguing for its own sake.

--------------------All submissions are for informational purposes and entertainment only.

Quote:WildBud420 said:You should keep your ballast outside of the tent, higher temps will reduce its lifespan. Also, don't waste $$ on a 1000w, a 4x4 tent is not large enough to effectively control the heat build up from a 1k light. Unless you have a liquid cooled light.

Nice setup you got going , i'm sure you'll get great results.

You make a good point. Problem is its only 63F in the tent right now. I was hoping ballast in might take me up to 70. Lol, it doesn't; cool to the touch.

What you say about 1000W makes sense. Come the dark heart of July I'm going to see what my temps are. If they're still upper 60s, max no more than 72, I think I might upgrade.

Thanks for feedback; not arguing for its own sake.

If you can get away with it more light is always better. I run a air cooled 1000w in my 9x4.5x7ft tent and during the winter its easy to keep cool, but my temps are still around 24-27c(75-80F) depending on how cold the intake air from outside is(also the room my tent is in never gets cooler than about 18c(64f)). During the summer i have to use a portable ac unit to keep the room my tent is in at 20c or less other wise the tents inside temps can go above 30c(86F).

Also i just noticed your probably running the 400w in the tent at the moment, you should put in the 600w HPS, dial up the ballast and see what the temps are like. HPS bulbs put off a lot more heat than MH. Also make sure your temperature probe is hanging 16-20 inches under the light, you get a more accurate reading as to what the plants will feel rather than the ambient temp in the tent.

Quote:WildBud420 said:Also i just noticed your probably running the 400w in the tent at the moment, you should put in the 600w HPS, dial up the ballast and see what the temps are like. HPS bulbs put off a lot more heat than MH. Also make sure your temperature probe is hanging 16-20 inches under the light, you get a more accurate reading as to what the plants will feel rather than the ambient temp in the tent.

Great idea. I'll give this a go.

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And so here we have an update. Left the whole org going over the weekend, and as you can see, temp under lights hit a max of 65. I'm guessing that HPS in summer will hit 72 or so, but we shall see.

Meanwhile, The Cat is enjoying the tents ability to grow lovely delicious cat grass, the prototype grow. Hopefully the real beans arrive this week and we can get going. The ratchets are a god send for exact, easy positioning.

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The FF line is good, I used it on my first grow, using it again on my current grow and it was recommended to me by an experienced grower, last grow i only used the big 3 nute bottles tho, im prob gonna get some beastie bloomz and cha ching for this grow

what i do with the soil is mix in FF light warrior at a 2:1 ratio of OF:LW and it really helps keep the soil airy and light warrior has nutes in it that help with the development of roots...just a thought

also my last grow i was using chain to hold the light up, this time around i bought a set of ratchets like the ones you have.....SO worth it, makes for much more painless raising/lowering

lookin like a good setup tho if youre temps are that low tho you may want to think about a hydrofarm seedling heatmat or buying a cheap ceramic heater cause you dont want it that cold or they could be slow growing

Major progress today. First, my seeds FINALLY came in. I was surprised that the Gorilla used very Little stealth, but I guess it got the job done. Packaging was nice; overall pretty impressed, and should keep me going just fine.

I'm being cautious and relying on the best methods I know to germinate. I got 4 stout wide mouth ball jars, and filled each up about half way with room temperature water. Dropped a seed in and strain tagged. I sealed the lids, which kept them safe (in case cat molested it in some way - has happened before), and also gave a little window to check things out. After about four hours, each seed had visibly swelled and sank to bottom. I left the ball jars on the seed mat; they were pleasantly warm. The ball jars also have a great lip to pour out the water and retain the seed until your ready to sow.

Got the classic pellet nursery rocking, and again strain tagged. Dropped in the seeds, and covered with about quarter inch of soil. Seedling nursery is nice and moist inside. With any luck I should some cotyledon on cotyledon action by tomorrow night.

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Quote:trippinballs420 said:The FF line is good, I used it on my first grow, using it again on my current grow and it was recommended to me by an experienced grower, last grow i only used the big 3 nute bottles tho, im prob gonna get some beastie bloomz and cha ching for this grow

what i do with the soil is mix in FF light warrior at a 2:1 ratio of OF:LW and it really helps keep the soil airy and light warrior has nutes in it that help with the development of roots...just a thought

also my last grow i was using chain to hold the light up, this time around i bought a set of ratchets like the ones you have.....SO worth it, makes for much more painless raising/lowering

lookin like a good setup tho if youre temps are that low tho you may want to think about a hydrofarm seedling heatmat or buying a cheap ceramic heater cause you dont want it that cold or they could be slow growing

Thanks. I'll think about that soil tip.

--------------------All submissions are for informational purposes and entertainment only.